


Sim's Christmas Pie 2015: Mistletoe

by sssssssim



Series: Sim's Christmas! [1]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Elementary (TV), Teen Wolf (TV), The Flash (TV 2014), The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Hunger Games (Movies)
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-26
Updated: 2015-12-26
Packaged: 2018-05-09 12:36:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5540213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sssssssim/pseuds/sssssssim
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Six chapters. Six pairings. Six mistletoe kisses. Six slices of fluffy Christmas pie.</p><p>Chapter 1: Sterek<br/>Chapter 2: Solangelo<br/>Chapter 3: FitzSimmons<br/>Chapter 4: Killervibe<br/>Chapter 5: Hayffie<br/>Chapter 6: Joanlock</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 12 days of kisses

**Author's Note:**

> It's still Christmas, right?
> 
>  **Merry Christmas, my loves**. And "sorry" for the spam you'll be getting today :)
> 
> [This first chapter is for [Vici](http://mysnarkyself.tumblr.com/). Cause she gave me the mistletoe idea:)]

** **

**◦◌Day 1◌◦**

How Lydia convinced Derek to let her decorate his loft, Stiles had no idea. But here he was, standing in the middle of it. There was a tree in a corner, with fairly lights and all white decorations, there was tinsel around the tv and reindeers and snowmen all over.

He didn’t notice the mistletoe, until Derek stopped in front of him, looked up and said a very innocent ‘uh-oh’.

Stiles looked up as well. There was mistletoe. They were standing by the desk.

‘This is a weird place for mistletoe.’, Stiles couldn’t help but point out.

He was still staring up at the offending plant, so he was startled when Derek grabbed a hold of his hand. The wolf quickly bought Stiles’ hand to his lips and kissed the back of it.

Stiles was too shocked to say anything, and Derek left before he could collect himself.

 

**◦◌Day 2◌◦**

They went to Scott’s, to help him put up the tree. Melissa was just leaving for work, and Stiles found it weird, when she winked at him after she stepped out of the house, but he didn’t dwell on it too much.

‘Stop right there!’ Scott screamed from inside the house, making Stiles and Derek freeze.

‘There’s mistletoe’, Scott grinned, pointing at something above their heads.

And sure enough, when Stiles looked up, he saw a quite alarming bundle of the plant.

‘Does she not know it’s harmful for werewolves?’, Stiles glared at Scott, who merely shrugged.

Derek sighed, and Stiles turned to look at him. Derek didn’t look at him, but he did grab a hold of his hand. Again.

This time, he kissed his wrist.

Stiles really hated the way it made him blush.

 

**◦◌Day 3◌◦**

‘No, seriously’, Stiles shrieked, ‘I didn’t put it there!’

Derek raised an eyebrow. ‘You didn’t hang up the mistletoe on the door to your room?’

‘Of course not’, he hissed out.

‘Too bad’, Derek shrugged. ‘It’s a pretty good tactic to get yourself kissed.’

Stiles spluttered. Derek used it to his advantage, grabbing one of Stiles’ flailing hands and kissing the tip of his fingers.

‘Seriously’, Stiles shrieked, ‘there wasn’t even anybody around!’

‘It’s bad luck’, Derek shrugged. ‘I’ve got enough of that, wouldn’t want to tempt fate.’

And, really, there wasn’t anything Stiles could have answered to that.

 

**◦◌Day 4◌◦**

They were caught in Derek’s kitchen, next to the coffee maker. Only Allison was around, and she was shamelessly waiting.

‘Seriously, dude’, Stiles breathed out. ‘It’s your apartment, shouldn’t you notice these things? And do your best to avoid them?’

‘I probably should.’, Derek sighed.

But he also pushed himself up on his toes and kissed Stiles’ forehead. The wolf didn’t say anything as he left the kitchen, and Stiles was fully prepared to chalk it all up to the fact that Derek just woke up and he was still half asleep.

But then, he saw Allison. Who smirked and mouthed ‘you’re welcome’.

Stiles really didn’t understand what was happening.

 

**◦◌Day 5◌◦**

Of course Stiles agreed to help Derek do some Christmas shopping. He regretted that decision immensely, when they were just about to walk out of a jewelry store and the clerk pointed out the mistletoe above their heads.

Stiles groaned. Derek smiled at the clerk. He also quickly kissed Stiles' cheek and dragged him out of the shop.

 

**◦◌Day 6◌◦**

Stiles’ dad arrested a vampire. Derek was called to deal with it, and Stiles was the only one who answered his phone at 3 o’clock in the morning, so here he was.

Just as they were leaving the Sheriff’s office, he cleared his throat.

‘Boys’, he said, highly amused. ‘Look up.’

Stiles didn’t. Stiles refused to. He glared at his father.

‘Really, dad? Really? In the station? In your office?’

The Sheriff just smirked.

Stiles glared harder.

It didn’t stop Derek from quickly kissing his cheek, and tugging on his sleeve after, urging Stiles to go home and sleep.

He didn’t. He stayed up the whole night thinking about Derek’s lips on his skin and about how trilling and exciting and good it felt.

 

**◦◌Day 7◌◦**

The vampire had friends. Whom decided that kidnapping Stiles and Derek was the right course of action.

It only took an hour to escape, and another 20 minutes to get the vampires, but Stiles got a pretty ugly scratch in his side, so Derek drove him to the hospital.

‘This cannot be sanitary’, Stiles growled at the nurse who was stitching his wound.

‘Like, seriously’, he went on when she didn’t answer, ‘I have an open wound here, what if a piece of mistletoe falls in it?’

‘It’s not going to fall in it’, the nurse answered without even looking up.

‘You don’t know that!’, Stiles whined.

The nurse was done with the stitches, so she stood up from her chair, rattled out instructions that Stiles already knew by heart, kissed his forehead and left without saying anything else.

Stiles sighed.

And then, Derek was by his bedside.

He also kissed his forehead, letting his lips linger there, dragging Stiles’ pain until he couldn’t feel anything else but a dull ache.

‘That wasn’t so bad, was it?’, Derek asked, highly amused.

‘Getting a kiss from you is never bad’, Stiles said before his brain caught up. ‘It would be nicer if they weren’t forced, though.’

The ride home was the most awkward moment in Stiles’ entire life.

 

**◦◌Day 8◌◦**

He stayed in bed all day, dozing on and off because of the pain killers and diligently taking care of his wound.

Derek came around in the evening, bringing Stiles freshly made waffles.

Before he left, he pulled something out of his pocket, holding it up above Stiles’ head.

‘Seriously?’, Stiles breathed out, glaring at Derek.

He didn’t say anything, he just quickly kissed his cheek and walked out of the room, taking the mistletoe with him.

 

**◦◌Day 9◌◦**

As soon as he stepped into Derek’s loft, the wolf grabbed Stiles’ hand and dragged him in a seemingly random corner.

‘What’s the matter?’, Stiles asked feeling awfully anxious.

Derek just looked up. Stiles didn’t really need to, by this point.

‘Are you serious?’, he asked slowly, very slowly.

Derek kissed his forehead. Again.

This time, as the wolf turned to leave, Stiles grabbed his wrist.

‘Why?’, was all he asked.

Derek smiled at him over his shoulder, but didn’t answer, before gently tugging his hand loose and walking away.

 

**◦◌Day 10◌◦**

They met accidentally in the grocery store. In the middle of the cleaning supplies aisle.

There was mistletoe, as a sweet old lady pointed out.

Derek kissed Stiles’ cheek, and reminded him to get the unscented dish soap.

Stiles got a plan.

 

**◦◌Day 11◌◦**

He spent the entire day at Derek’s, with the pretense of getting things ready for the next day’s Christmas party. In fact, he didn’t do much.

But he made sure to always avoid the mistletoe. Very pointedly.

A few times, he literally stopped a feet away from where Derek was sitting, and stared him down as he went around him.

When he left for the night, Derek called his name, and when Stiles turned around, Derek was close.

Very close.

Utterly close.

A breath apart.

And he was holding a small bundle of mistletoe over their heads.

Derek kissed his neck. Right on top of his pulse point, and his lips lingered there for a few seconds. He walked back into the apartment without saying another word.

That… This kiss settles it, Stiles thought.

He went home with a bounce in his step.

 

**◦◌Day 12◌◦**

The party was awesome. Everybody was in a happy mood, there was no bloodshed or unnecessary fighting. The food was amazing, the gifts were cool and everybody had a good time.

Stiles lingered after everybody else left.

When it was only the two of them left, Stiles very pointedly placed himself in the middle of the loft, right beneath the biggest bundle of mistletoe. He stared at Derek, playfully raising his eyebrows. A challenge.

Derek’s first reaction was to blush. Stiles enjoyed it probably more than he should have.

The wolf slowly made his way through the apartment, until he was standing in front of Stiles. There was hesitance in his eyes, so Stiles made sure to have none in his.

Derek took a deep breath and slowly took that one more step needed.

Stiles stopped him, gently putting his hand on Derek’s chest. He didn’t push, but it still made Derek freeze.

His face fell, there was hurt, a lot of it in his eyes and he shakily released a breath.

‘You’ve been ridiculous about this’, Stiles told him, as gently as possible, slowly moving his hand up, until he could cup it around the back of Derek’s neck.

‘I’d be lying if I’d say I didn’t love it’, he went on, smirking slightly.

It was clear that Derek didn’t get it, because he still looked hurt, angry and confused.

So Stiles clicked his tongue. And kissed him.

For the first time, Stiles kissed Derek.

And it wasn’t on the back of the hand, or on the wrist, or on the cheek, or on the forehead, or on the neck. No, Stiles kissed Derek fully on the lips and after the first touch, he had no intention of ever stopping.

So he tilted his head slightly. And he took a miniscule step forward, until their chests were pressed together. And he took a deep breath, before catching Derek’s lower lip between his and playfully tugging at it.

When Derek moved, it wasn’t slow, like Stiles did. When Derek moved, it was fast. In between two breaths, the wolf’s fingers were pressed hard into Stiles’ back and his tongue was pushing against Stiles’ lips.

Stiles let him. Anything he wanted. Everything he wanted. He let Derek have it. And he greedily took back just as much.

 

**◦bonus◦  
◦◌Day 13◌◦**

The Stilinski tradition was breakfast on the 25th before the Sheriff had to go in for his shift.

This year, Stiles turned up wearing yesterday’s jeans, Derek’s shirt and with three visible hickies. He also turned up hand in hand with Derek.

‘You know what?’, the Sheriff said. ‘I’m just going to take down all the mistletoe.’

‘Sure’, Stiles shrugged easily. ‘We can manage without just fine.’

It made Derek blush, and Stiles’ father sigh deeply.

Stiles just grinned.

‘Really nice Christmas this year, wasn’t it? It’s going to be hard to top next year.’

There was a pause, before he turned to wink at Derek. ‘Just like you.’

Stiles’ father hurried out of the room, then, as Derek glared. He turned around to leave as well, and Stiles pretended he didn’t hear Derek mumbling ‘not that hard’ under his breath.

He’ll use that little bit of information later. Now, he had to make Christmas pancakes.


	2. Kiss from the Underworld

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Solangelo.

When Nico got the IM, he couldn’t really function well enough to fully comprehend what he agreed to. But the bottom line was that he will be spending Christmas at the beach, three days at Percy’s mom house. She will be there, as will her husband, and Percy, of course. And Annabeth. And Hazel and Frank , and Piper and Jason, and Reyna, and Will and Lou-Ellen. And Nico.

He panicked about presents. A lot. A whole lot.

Chiron laughed at him, but he also helped him brainstorm.

Ψ

Nico couldn’t fully remember the last time he celebrated Christmas, but he knew Bianca was by his side, so he decided not to think about it.

But as he got to the beach house, he thought that by the end of his stay, there’s a change he’ll get back the Christmas spirit. Because it was beautiful.

It was weird, being near the ocean on Christmas, but everything was covered in a layer of snow, and the beach house had a tree on the porch, filled with fairy lights and a huge star on top.

Nico didn’t get to knock, before the door opened and he was tackled by Hazel. It was a struggle, to keep both of them on their feet, but Nico didn’t mind. Not really.

That was followed by more hugs and shoulder pats, and Nico noticed that Will and Lou Ellen weren’t there yet, but he didn’t mention it. Sally (she asked him to call her that, it made her feel younger) kissed his forehead when Nico handed her and Paul the bottles of wine he stole from Mr. D’s cellar.

It was overwhelming. But he was surrounded by his friends, and they were all grinning and wearing fluffy sweaters. And the tree in the huge living room wasn’t decorated yet, apparently they’ll all be doing it later in the evening. And the house smelled like chocolate and cinnamon, and it started snowing outside.

Nico really didn’t feel as bad as he thought.

Ψ

Will and Lou Ellen arrived a couple of hours later.

By this point, Nico’s heart didn’t go haywire anymore, every time his eyes landed on Will. It was subdued now, calmer.

But Will was wearing a huge Santa hat, and his cheeks were flushed, and he was wearing a horrible Christmas sweater, bright yellow. Nico burst out laughing, even if his heart was bouncing in his chest. Will hugged him, briefly, too briefly for Nico to even hug back, but that was okay.

And then Lou Ellen was in front of him, and Nico bid her a polite hello, to which she responded by lightly punching him in the stomach and quickly kissing his cheek.

He was blushing, Nico knew he was, but everybody else was chuckling, so he let it pass.

Ψ

‘Children, are you sure your parents are okay with you being here?’, Sally asked at dinner, clearly concerned. ‘I wouldn’t mind speaking with any of them.’

‘Awkward, mom’, Percy flinched. ‘Not all of them have human parents.’

Sally looked horrified, and Annabeth punched Percy, enough for him to yelp.

‘It’s fine, Sally’, Jason smiled at her. ‘We’re used to it, by now.’

‘Well my mom’s doing a lot of double shifts at the hospital’, Will said. ‘She was really happy I wouldn’t get to be alone.’

‘And my foster parents’, Lou Ellen went on, ‘they’re happy they have one less child to worry about. There’s 7 of us now.’

This was new information for Nico. He didn’t dwell on it.

‘No parents’, Reyna smiled, ‘just Camp Jupiter. But I’m sure it’ll survive without us for a couple of days.’

‘Sure’, Frank quickly said.

‘Positive’, Hazel nodded as well.

‘Dad’s on a press tour’, Piper shrugged. ‘I was planning on tagging along to whichever camp Jason went.’

‘This is better’, Jason grinned.

It took a while, but Nico realized they were all looking at him.

He turned to Sally. ‘I would say my father sends his regards, but that would just freak you out.’

Sally blinked. ‘I’m sorry, Nico, I don’t remember who your father is.’

Nico smirked. ‘Hades, Lord of the Underworld.’

The woman paled.

‘He’s not as bad as it sounds’, Hazel said.

Percy mumbled something under his breath, but Nico ignored it.

‘I had to explain what Christmas was to him’, he told the table. ‘I don’t think he understood it completely, but he did make me promise that next year we’ll spend it together.’

‘That’s nice’, Will said, diplomatically.

Nico just snorted, sharing a look with Hazel.

Ψ

Decorating the Christmas tree was a mess. Worse than a battlefield, everybody fighting over where to put what. Nico gave up pretty early on. Instead, he went into the kitchen and helped Sally and Paul decorate cookies.

It didn’t take long, for Paul to start asking questions about how things were like when Nico was born, but he didn’t mind. Paul was a teacher, so he knew how to ask questions and keep the conversation going, and he seemed to be genuinely interested in what Nico had to say.

Before he knew it, there were six trays of cookies and Will was all but dragging him outside.

Ten minutes later, they were on the beach, cries of battle could be heard everywhere, and Nico was on the ground, snow in places it really shouldn’t be, Hazel was pinning him down by laying completely on top of him, Frank was on top of her, Reyna was on top of him and Jason was using his winds to keep blowing snow in their faces.

When he emerged, completely covered in show, he saw that Will was in a similar position to him, with Piper and Lou Ellen pinning him down, as Annabeth and Percy were throwing snow over them all.

Five minutes later, they were building a huge snowman and by the time they got back to the house, they were all pretty tired.

After a quick fight over shower order, they all wanted to sleep.

Apparently, he was sharing a room with Will and Lou Ellen. Which wasn’t a problem, the problem was the fact that there was only one bed.

‘I’ll take the floor’, Nico was quick to say, and he was met with a twin set of glares.

They didn’t even say anything to him, but Will pushed him as Lou Ellen pulled, and before he fully comprehended what was happening, he was on one side of the bed, Will was on the other, and Lou Ellen was between them.

It wasn’t that bad, the bed was quite big.

‘Be warned’, Lou Ellen said, snuggling into the covers, ‘I’m a cuddle monster.’

‘She’s vicious’, Will added. ‘But, thankfully, she doesn’t kick.’

‘I’m really uncomfortable right now’, Nico admitted, making the other two demigods snort.

‘But you’re not moving’, Will said, and even though he couldn’t see him, Nico knew he was smirking.

‘That’s progress’, Lou Ellen said, absently patting his head. ‘Before you’ll know it, you’ll be a real boy.’

Nico sighed, turned his back to her, and went to sleep.

Ψ

When Nico woke up, the first thing that registered was that he was feeling hot.

The second thing was that there was a body plastered to his. There was a leg between his, a hand over his stomach, and a face on his chest.

Of course it was Lou Ellen. Nico didn’t think he would’ve been able to handle himself if it was Will.

It was uncomfortable, terribly so, but Nico didn’t feel the need to scream, run, or send her into the Underworld. Progress, his mind supplied.

There was a snicker coming from his far left.

Will was awake, sitting with his back against the headboard, chuckling down at the two of them.

‘So adorable’, he said, his voice whispered, making Nico scowl.

He tried shaking Lou Ellen awake. It didn’t work. He tried calling her name, louder and louder. It didn’t work.

Will was full on laughing, by this point. Lou Ellen was still sleeping.

Nico placed his lips against her forhead, and Will’s laughter died instantly. Nico smirked, in his mind, before he blew a very loud raspberry against the girl’s skin.

It did the job, and Lou Ellen stirred away.

After she woke up completely, she didn’t move off Nico, just blinked at him for a while.

‘You're making me incredibly uncomfortable’, Nico said.

She frowned. ‘You should eat more sweets. You’re not as fluffy as you should be.’

Nico’s jaw dropped. ‘I shouldn’t be fluffy, I should have muscles.’

She shrugged, finally detaching herself from Nico. ‘Those are overrated.’

He really had no answer for that, so Nico got out of bed and went in search of coffee.

Ψ

That day was spent playing boardgames, napping at odd hours and in odd places (Will fell asleep against the fridge, and Frank turned into a hamster so he could curl up in Hazel’s hoodie). They also ate a lot. And drank more hot chocolate than it was humanly possible.

After the sun went down, they started fighting over when was the correct time to open presents. Now, on Christmas Eve, or in the morning. It went on for a while, and it was hilarious to watch, but Sally put a stop to it, reminding them that they’re children and they should be excited to open up Christmas gifts.

So they did.

One by one, they each handed out their gifts. Nico lost count, of everything except the gifts he got.

Percy and Annabeth got him a horrible Christmas sweater. It had skulls, but it also had red and green shiny parts. Jason got him all the Harry Potter books, while Piper got him the movies. Frank got him The Art of War, which he seemed to think was a bad gift, but Nico was very excited for it. Reyna got him a silver dagger, and it was nice, incredible even, that they could all laugh about it now.

Hazel got him a beautiful hand-painted edition of Grimm fairytales. He never read them, barely heard about them, really, but Nico knew that this book will be the most protected book in the whole world.

Lou Ellen got him a hair straightener. Will got him a plushie of Hades in that horrible Disney cartoon.

His friends, really. Nico loved them, but he wanted to kill them.

 Ψ

When it was time for Nico to hand out his gifts, he would be lying if he said he wasn’t anxious.

This whole friends thing was new to him. This whole Christmas thing was new to him. But he knew his gifts will be appreciated.

So he got the bags he placed yesterday under the tree.

‘Blue for boys, red for girls’, he said, as he started making his way to them all.

The blue bag was filled with bracelets. They were bulky, but still elegant. The red bag was filled with rings. With swirly designs and slimmer figure.

‘You don’t get a ring’, Nico told Annabeth, and her face fell instantly.

‘Because you don’t wear jewelry’, he went on, giving her a small bag from his pocket, ‘and you’d forget to wear it, so you get a bead for your camp necklace.’

Annabeth flushed, but she also smiled at him, warmly and delighted. It made him blush.

He purposely didn’t give anything to Hazel, and he could see her disappointment, but he let it be for now.

‘What is this material?’, Paul said, intently examining his bracelet.

‘It’s Stygian iron, right?’, Percy said.

Nico nodded. ‘Forged in the Underworld, bathed in the Styx. Usually, Stygian iron sucks away its victim’s essence, but these do not.’

Every demi-god frowned at that. Nico smirked.

‘My father enhanced them. Should you ever find yourself in need, if you wear them and if you say a prayer to Hades, skeletons from the earth beneath you will come to your aid.’

Nobody said a word, and they were all staring at him.

Lou Ellen moved her hand, but Nico was quick to glare at her. ‘Don’t try it now, it only has one go in it.’

She put her hand back on her leg, staring intently at the ring in it.

‘This is very thoughtful, Nico’, Annabeth said in a shaky voice, which he didn’t like.

‘It’s amazing’, Will said, staring at him so strongly, Nico had to look away.

‘We live a dangerous life. I’ll always do what I can to keep you safe.’

There was a very long silence, that was filled only with Nico’s heart beat. He thought anybody could hear it.

‘Progress’, Lou Ellen whispered, slowly putting the ring on her finger. ‘Immense progress.’

‘You should probably stop addressing him as a medical case’, Will told her, even if he was still staring at Nico.

‘It would be appreciated’, Nico rolled his eyes.

Lou Ellen didn’t say anything more, but she did wink at him.

Then, like a switch was pulled, everybody started putting on their jewelry, and thanking Nico, praising him excitedly.

Except for Hazel, who was staring at her hands, which were clenched in her lap. Frank was the only one who seemed to pick up on it, and he was frowning deeply, looking from Hazel to Nico.

He made his way to his sister’s side, and crouched down in front of her.

‘You don’t really need anything like this’, he told her around a smile. ‘Our father will always have your back. So I got you something you do need.’

She cocked an eyebrow, hesitance still clear.

Nico tried his best to sound stern and serious, like the older brother that he was. ‘I got you something that I feel will be very important in your evolution as a person and as a demi-god. It’s not here, though, you will have to come to Camp Half-Blood to pick it up.’

‘What is it?’, Hazel asked, still uncertain.

Nico pulled out a picture from his back pocket, a Polaroid Chiron took. It showed a puppy in the middle of one of the beds in the Hades Cabin. The dog was small and fluffy, a husky with different colored eyes and dark fur, with streaks of silver through it.

Hazel just blinked down at the picture for a while.

‘You got me a puppy.’

It wasn’t a question, but it was said incredulously.

‘Yeah’, Nico said, trying his best not to grin. ‘She’s a bit of a trouble maker, she chewed all of my socks.’

Hazel started laughing, somewhat hysterically, and next thing he knew, Nico was on the floor, and Hazel was on top of him, frantically pressing kisses all over his face.

He didn’t even try to push her off.

Nico did good, he thought. Surrounded by the laughter of his friends, wrapped up in his sister’s arms, he thought he did good.

Ψ

That night, Will slept in the middle, between Nico and Lou Ellen.

It was affecting Nico, he wasn’t able to fall asleep. He kept fidgeting, doing his best not to touch the boy next to him. He knew Will wasn’t sleeping, he could hear him playing with his bracelet.

Lou Ellen was snoring softly.

‘You’re amazing’, Will whispered into the dark room. ‘I never thought we’d get here after the Titan War.’

Nico frowned at that. He remembered seeing Will on the battle field, doing his best to heal the wounded, but he doesn’t remember anything else.

‘Bravest thing I ever saw’, Will said next, Nico had to strain himself to hear him. ‘Darkest thing I ever saw. And now, I’m…’

He didn’t say anything else. Nico didn’t dare move. He couldn’t say anything. He couldn’t even catch his breath.

It was a long time before Will said something else. He just whispered a very heartfelt ‘Thank you’, and softly brushed his fingers through Nico’s hair.

Will fell asleep soon after, his breathing evened out, with his legs touching the back of Nico’s knees. He took a very long while to fell asleep.

Ψ

They all slept in the next morning, and had a huge lunch together.

Nico found himself washing the dishes with Will. They didn’t talk, but their shoulders kept brushing, and their hips kept bumping and it was hard for Nico to wipe the small off his face.

When they were done, neither of them seemed eager to move back into the living room.

‘I got you something’, Nico said. ‘Something else.’

Will instantly ran his fingers over his bracelet, frowning.  ‘You shouldn’t have.’

‘That didn’t stop me’, Nico smiled ducking his head. When he looked up at Will again, the blonde was watching him intently.

There was confusion in his eyes, and excitement, but also something soft, that Nico felt shouldn’t be directed at him.

‘It’s the cheesiest, most horrible thing I have ever seen’, Nico snorted. ‘I thought you’d love it.’

‘What is it?’, Will breathed out.

Nico reached into his back pocket and pulled a small book out. It was bright pink and a little worn around the edges, but he handed it to Will.

‘ _Haikus for love, happiness and sunny days’_ , Will read out loud, a small smile on his face.

‘They’re all awful’, Nico felt the need to say. ‘Terrible.’

‘Where did you even find this thing?’, Will started flicking through it. 'It looks old.'

‘Big House basement.’

That made Will’s head snap up.

‘Chiron said that it was brought by a demi-god in the late 20s. Daughter of Apollo. Her mother got it from him.’

Will breathed out, slowly. ‘Wow.’

‘But’, Nico lowered her voice, ‘if you ever say any of these out loud, I will personally feed you to Cerberus.’

Will frowned at him.

‘They’re really that horrible’, Nico sighed.

Will didn’t say anything in response. He was holding to the book tightly, a finger resting on the bracelet, and he was looking at Nico in awe.

He couldn’t handle it. But he couldn’t look away either.

Hazel barged into the kitchen then, and they both startled, turning to look at her.

‘Oh, sorry’, she said, looking between the two of them. Then, she smirked.

Nico narrowed his eyes.

Hazel’s smirk grew. She flicked her hand, and Nico felt the Mist around them. Above them. Looking up, he saw a strand of mistletoe hanging in mid air, between him and Will.

Nico turned to glare at Hazel. She didn’t say anything, just bounced and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, before rushing out of the kitchen.

He turned to look at Will, but didn’t manage it completely. Because suddenly, Will cupped Nico’s cheek and forcefully pulled him forward, until their lips crashed into each other.

It wasn’t a long kiss. It wasn’t even particularly smooth.

But it was enough to fry Nico’s brain. And his heart.

All he managed to do was tilt his head slightly, and put a hand on Will’s chest. He didn’t pull and he didn’t push, he just stood there.

When Will pulled back, he didn’t even look at Nico, before running out of the kitchen.

Nico didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing. He just knew that ever since Bianca’s death, he had never felt happier.

Jason came into the kitchen, then. ‘Hey, look’, he said excitedly, ‘mistletoe!’

He advanced on Nico, grinning evilly. Nico punched him in the shoulder and left the kitchen.

Ψ

Nico decided he was done with holding back. So he spent the rest of the day glued to Will’s side. They didn’t talk about it, and they barely touched, but he let his presence known.

Will kept looking at Nico confused. Hazel kept throwing them amused looks. Nico acted as normally as possible.

Ψ

There were a lot of hugs when it was time to leave, and somehow, Nico, Will and Lou Ellen were the last ones to leave.

Annabeth hugged him for a long while, long enough for Nico to really think about shadow traveling out of there.

‘I’m really proud of you’, she whispered in his ear. ‘I’m very glad you’re my friend.’

It was a surprise Nico didn’t melt into a pile of goo. Christmas miracle, right there.

Lou Ellen didn’t hug him at all. Instead, she kissed his cheek and, once again, punched him in the stomach.

‘You’re stuck with me’, she said. ‘I hope you realize that.’

‘I didn’t sign up for that’, Nico mumbled, even if he was blushing.

‘Well, you signed up for Will, so you signed up for me.’

She left without another word, and Nico was left with Will. Who didn’t even look at him.

‘Are we okay?’, Nico asked, and he hated how desperate he sounded. He was scared by how more desperate he felt.

But Will didn’t hesitate in nodding.

‘Could we be more?’, the blonde asked, and Nico didn’t get it, not initially.

But Will was biting on his lower lip, and his eyes kept darting from Nico to his feet, and his cheeks were incredibly red, and really-

‘There’s nothing else I would want right now.’

Will’s eyes finally settled on him at that, and the blonde breathed out a shaky breath.

‘In that case, we’re all spending New Years at my house. You’re coming’, Will said sternly, ‘and maybe, if you want to come a couple of days early, we could figure… that out.’

Nico smiled.

Ψ

He went to Will’s house on the morning of the 30th.

His mother opened the door, a tall woman with Will’s blonde hair and bright blue scrubs that matched her eyes. She grinned down at Nico.

‘Will!’, she shouted into the house. ‘Your boyfriend’s here.’

Nico blushed instantly, and opened his mouth to say something, but he was cut off by the distinct sound of Will hurrying down the stairs.

His mother barely had time to move out of the way, until Will jumped on Nico, hugging him tightly, and kissing him frantically.

When he pulled away, his eyes were wide and his cheeks were red.

‘I shouldn’t have done that’, Will whispered. ‘We said we’d talk.’

Nico blinked. He took a deep breath.

‘Later.’

He pulled Will back into his arms.


	3. Just a plane kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fitzsimmons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by [this post](http://toocooltobehipster.com/post/134348627602). Also. There's a surprising amount of Fitz/Lincoln bro bonding. I don't know, it got away from me. Post 3x10.

Fitz didn’t agree with the Secret Santa idea. He never did.

He didn’t particularly enjoy Christmas, everything was always too stressful: the shopping, everybody going insane over the shopping, his mum going insane over cooking, then there were all the distant family relatives who kept asking him about a girlfriend since he was 12.

Yeah, Fitz pretty much hated Christmas.

But it was different, since Simmons and he accepted their field assignments. Because they didn’t really have Christmas anymore. They barely had time to watch the Doctor Who special episode together.

So doing Secret Santa this year, after all they’ve been through, seemed absolutely ridiculous.

Or maybe it was brilliant, _because_ of all they’ve been through. Fitz couldn’t tell.

But Jemma was excited. Just a little, just around her eyes. And Hunter was grinning like a maniac, expression which was surpassed only by Daisy’s. Lincoln seemed excited too, but he was staring at Daisy, so…

Even May had a slight smirk on her face. It was her wink that made Fitz move. He put a hand in the ridiculous Santa hat Daisy was holding in front of him, and grabbed the first ticket his fingers touched.

He waited until he was in the privacy of his room to check the name on it, just because he didn’t want his face to betray anything.

_Lincoln_

Fitz didn’t know if he was disappointed that it didn’t say Jemma, or if he was happy it didn’t say Jemma.

He took a deep breath, cleared his head and pulled out a sketchbook, three different ideas already running through his mind.

ΔV

It took half a night for Fitz to make the plans. It took 10 minutes for Mack to look them over and to give his consent on the mechanics, and on whether or not Lincoln might actually find use in the thing Fitz wanted to make him.

From then on came the hard part.

Because he couldn’t just work on it at his workstation, while everybody else was running around. It was supposed to be a secret, right? So Fitz worked on it in his bedroom.

He bought in a desk (he never really needed it before), he brought in tools and spare parts and worked on it during the nights.

Christmas was three weeks away, so he had enough time to do it. The problem was that he had no way of testing it.

Mack kept insisting that it’ll work, so Fitz kept working on it.

ΔV

He liked Lincoln. They didn’t talk much, but Lincoln was always polite with him if they were in the same room. There wasn’t small talk, thank god, but the guy was still adjusting to Shield and to living on the base, so they were all trying to help him.

When Lincoln came to Fitz, he usually had tech-related questions. He didn’t mind when Fitz spent too much time explaining, or when he ranted about this and that. Lincoln just listened patiently, asked a couple of follow up questions and always thanked him for his patience, parting ways with a joke.

Fitz thought his gift will be brilliant for Lincoln. If all goes well, it will make his transition into Shield easier.

If only he could help himself as easily.

ΔV

Things with Jemma weren’t… well. They weren’t bad, either.

She was still mourning, and trying to get rid of the guilt she felt, for Will dying for her, for letting Garner out, for hurting Fitz. But she needed Fitz to do that. And he did try his best to help her, he came any time she called and he did everything she asked of him.

But it was hard for him to pretend that the kiss didn’t happen. It was clear, that that was what Jemma wanted. And he understood it, of course he did.

It wasn’t easy, though. Not at all.

Working on Lincoln’s gift helped him clear his head.

ΔV

Six days before Christmas, Hunter had one of his _brilliant_ ideas for a gadget. Fitz tried his best to keep up, Hunter wanted a ball or something that shot things like shrapnel or gas or whatever when it hit the floor.

‘Like a reverse pokeball’, Hunter said. ‘A grenade of sorts.’

And Fitz couldn’t stop thinking about it.

He found what he wanted online and ordered it 15 minutes later.

ΔV

There were a lot of gifts under the Christmas tree, but Fitz’s was the only one that stood out, because it was wrapped in old drafted plans for Zephyr 1.

Daisy was in charge of gift delivering, and Fitz finally understood what the concept of Secret Santa was: you didn’t get to find out who gave you the gift.

Well, so much for that. Fitz will have to explain his gift to Lincoln. Oops.

He enjoyed seeing what the others got. Surprisingly enough. It was fun.

Coulson rolling his eyes at the 12 hideously colored ties, May’s horrified expression at the absolutely hideous Christmas sweater, Bobbi’s childish face when she unwrapped a literal bucket full of candy.

When it was time for Jemma to open her gift, Fitz figured out it was from Hunter before she even got past the bow. His face said it all. And sure enough, Simmons got a Manchester t-shirt. She started laughing, somewhat hysterically, burring her face in the shirt.

Nobody understood, of course, about the Brits and their soccer. Fitz knew just enough to join in on the chuckles.

After Jemma calmed down, she went to Hunter and kissed his cheek.

‘What was that for?’, he shrieked. ‘It wasn’t me.’

‘Yes it was’, Jemma chuckled. ‘And it was a good one.’

It took a couple of beats, but Hunter finally smirked. He also winked at Jemma, and that was that, she went back to her seat.

‘I don’t understand what just happened’, Daisy said, slowly.

‘Don’t bother’, Fitz helpfully supplied. ‘It’s impossible to understand English soccer.’

‘You’re Scottish!’, Hunter rolled his eyes. ‘You’re supposed to understand.’

They’ve had this conversation before, so Fitz just rolled his eyes and refused to go into it again.

Which was good, considering Daisy handed Lincoln his gift next.

‘Wow’, she said, highly sarcastic. ‘I wonder who could this be from?’

All eyes turned to Fitz.

‘Sorry?’, he shrugged. ‘I’m about as subtle as a piece of brick.’

Lincoln snorted at that, but he also grinned excitedly. He honest to god sat down on the floor, crossed his feet and started picking the paper apart.

It was adorable, Fitz had to admit. He understood what Daisy liked in him. So he sat down on the floor in front of Lincoln.

After he opened the box, there were another two boxes inside.

‘You really didn’t seem like the type of guy to do this’, Lincoln was still grinning.

Fitz shrugged. ‘Start with the smaller one.’

Lincoln obliged, and after he opened the box, he blinked at it for a while. ‘It’s a watch.’

‘It’s not a watch’, Fitz said. ‘It’s not _just_ a watch.’

Lincoln looked up at that, frowning at Fitz.

‘It’s a watch, and a tablet, and a GPS, and a phone, and a communicator, and a tracker, if you want it to be.’

Lincoln still frowned, so Fitz went on.

‘It’s also a computer, and a translator, and a hacking device, and a hologram projector, and a lanyard for the base and it’s… basically everything you could ever need, here on the base or out on a mission.’

Lincoln still looked confused, but he also looked somewhat amazed. He slowly took the watch out of the box and put it on his hand. He pushed all the buttons, and nothing happened. Fitz couldn’t help but smirk.

‘How do you turn it on?’, Lincoln asked, still pushing things on the gadget.

‘ _I_ can’t turn it on’, Fitz tilted his head. ‘Only you can.’

Lincoln frowned some more. ‘So it’s… fingerprint activated?’

‘Nope’, Fitz smirked. ‘Although that’s a good idea if I ever make some for the rest of us.’

Lincoln still didn’t get it, clearly. Looking around the room, it was clear that nobody got it. Except for Simmons.

‘That’s brilliant, Fitz’, she said, and he smiled, genuinely, at her.

‘Lincoln’, Fitz said slowly, ‘you have to power it yourself.’

His jaw fell and his eyes grew wide. ‘Seriously?’

‘Theoretically’, Fitz nodded. ‘I … couldn’t really test it, could I?’

Lincoln nodded, absently, as he stared at the watch. He snapped his fingers and the watch lit up.

‘That is so cool’, Daisy breathed out and Fitz had to agree.

‘Thank you’, Lincoln said, not looking up from his watch. But Fitz could tell that he meant it.

‘No problem, but there’s still another box.’

‘Right’, Lincoln snapped his head up, and the watch instantly died.

He slowly opened the larger box in his gift. Again, he frowned, but as he pulled out the bright yellow material, his face fell, slowly morphing into annoyance.

Fitz got him a Pickachu onesie. He thought it was hilarious. So did everyone else, considering they started laughing. Lincoln looked somewhat murderous.

‘You’ll pay for this’, he said slowly. Fitz just laughed.

It died quickly, when Daisy placed a box in his lap. It was expertly wrapped in light blue paper, and it was the largest box under the tree.

Fitz quickly got rid of the wrapping paper, and when he opened the box, he frowned, more strongly that Lincoln did.

He slowly pulled out what was in the box. It looked like a toy plane. But, upon further inspection, it wasn’t a toy. The materials seemed very similar to the ones he used on Zephyr 1, the windscreen was real glass and there was a remote control in the box as well.

But there was something about the shape of the plane. It wasn’t like anything ever made, it was very, very weird, but Fitz still found something about it familiar.

‘I’ve been working on that plane for eight years’, Simmons said, and Fitz’s eyes snapped to her.

She was smiling, blushing slightly. ‘Remember the first time we went to the Boiler Room?’

Fitz paled. ‘You promised never to speak of it!’

‘Oh my god’, Daisy said, weirdly excited. ‘You gotta speak of it, what did Fitz do?’

Jemma’s smile widened. ‘Drank a bottle of whisky _after_ a bottle of vodka and got so plastered he remembered nothing the next day.’

‘Wow’, Mack said it. ‘That’s pretty impressive. I though you would be dead.’

‘I’m Scottish’, Fitz waved a hand absently, not looking away from Simmons.

‘So’, Jemma went on, looking back to Fitz. ‘You don’t remember designing that.’, she pointed at the plane.

Fitz looked down to it, frowning.

‘There were rough sketches’, Jemma went on, ‘ _really_ rough sketches, that’s why it took me so long to make them work.’

His eyes snapped up to meet hers, again. ‘This works?’

‘Of course it does’, she seemed affronted. ‘I wouldn’t give you a toy that doesn’t actually do anything, I know how much you hate that.’

Fitz only hesitated for three seconds. Then, he quickly got up from the floor, grabbed the remote control, and ran to the hanger, grinning all the while.

Jemma followed, running after him and matching his pace, while everybody else came along at a more leisure pace.

ΔV

The hanger was pretty deserted, so Fitz placed the plane on the ground and it didn’t take long for him to figure out the controls.

As the plane took off, it took of fast. Fitz was incredibly impressed. Not just with the mechanics of it, he’s certain he’s going to have a field day when he looks under its hood, but also because of the aerodynamics of it. The weird shape of the plane clearly worked.

‘How come it’s so fast?’, Coulson asked, and Fitz didn’t even bother to turn and look around. There wasn’t any need, because Jemma answered.

‘The engine on that is pretty comparable with Zephyr 1, sir. The materials are just as light, and the design of this, which you can see is very different from what we’re used to, it helps a lot in the field of aerodynamics.’

‘So you got Fitz a drone.’, Daisy said, coming to their side.

‘No, I built Fitz a drone he designed one drunken night years ago’, Jemma answered and even if Fitz couldn’t see her face, he knew she was smiling.

‘Does it have a name?’, Daisy went on, and Jemma chuckled before she answered.

‘He called it the Fitznator.’

Everybody laughed at that, at Fitz winced. They were all silent for a while, just watching him play with the plane, but then Coulson directed everyone back to the Christmas tree, all but ordering Jemma and Fitz to not linger too much, there was eggnog to be drunk.

Fitz played for a couple of more minutes, thoroughly impressed with the plane. He expertly brought it back to him, catching it in his hand. Only then did he notice the small strand of mistletoe that was hanging onto one of the plane’s wings. Fitz ignored it, gently putting it on the floor by his feet, along with the controls.

When he turned to face Jemma, she was smiling at him. Softly, so softly. There was a spark in her eyes, and she looked like she didn’t have a care in the world. It was big. It was huge.

His heart was beating like crazy.

‘I can’t believe you did this.’

She shrugged. ‘I’m sorry it took me so long. But I was always working on it, ever since I found your drawings. Every other engineer I’d meet, I’d ask them about it.’ Jemma faltered, lowering her voice after. ‘Even when I was at Hydra.’

‘We barely knew each other then’, Fitz felt the need to say.

Jemma nodded, smiling down at her feet. ‘Two months or so.’

‘It’s amazing’, Fitz breathed out, his voice shaky.

She looked up at him from under her eyelashes, biting on her lower lip.

‘Is it important?’

‘Yes’, Fitz didn’t hesitate in saying.

‘Take it as proof, then’, Jemma whispered, taking a few steps forward, until they were closer. ‘Even when I didn’t realize it, you were important.’

She took a deep breath, forcing him to meet her eyes.

‘To me.’, Jemma went on. ‘You were and you are and you will always be important to me.’

Fitz’s heart was breaking in his chest. He was having trouble controlling his breathing and he could feel his eyes getting wetter.

He knew what he wanted to happen now. But he didn’t know if it would. She was still …

‘Merry Christmas’, she said softy, grabbing a hold of his hand and intertwining their fingers.

‘I didn’t get you a present’, Fitz blurted out. ‘Not really, I couldn’t… nothing seemed enough.’

‘I don’t care, Fitz’, she smiled softly, squeezing his fingers.

‘I spoke to Coulson.’, he went on in a rush. ‘You’re getting a week off, around New Years. To go home.’

Jemma just blinked at him for a couple of seconds. Then she sighed, deeply, let go of his hand and wrapped hers around his shoulder. She hugged him tightly, pushing their cheeks together, and all Fitz could do was gently wrap his hands around her waist.

Her heart was beating just as rapidly as his was, and Fitz could feel it against his chest.

‘I love you’, she whispered. ‘A lot. I know we never said the words, but it doesn’t make them any less true.’

He tried pushing her away, just so he could look at her properly, but Jemma didn’t let him. She tightened her hold on him, and pushed her body closer still, until they were touching from head to toe.

‘We’re not cursed, Fitz.’

He froze completely at her words.

‘If anything, we’re blessed.’, she went on. ‘Because having you in my life feels like the best thing that has ever happened to me.’

‘I can’t-‘, Fitz tried, his voice cracking. ‘I can’t believe that.’

Jemma took a deep breath then. ‘Then please, let me show you.’

She pushed him away, gently detaching herself from him, and Fitz’ heart shattered. Completely. Again. But Jemma didn’t go far. She knelt over the plane, working at it for a moment, before popping back up.

Jemma was holding the mistletoe in her hand, and as she took a deep breath, she extended her hand over their heads.

He wasn’t expecting the kiss. He was hoping for it, but he wasn’t expecting it.

Fitz responded almost instantly, how could he not? Just like the first time around, he was hyperaware of everything, wanting to remember every little thing about her.

The way her lips were chapped. Her fingers wrapping themselves around his curly hair. Her thumb brushing against his cheekbone. Her hips under his hands. The way she pushed her body to his. The shaky breath she took through her nose.

Unlike before, they didn’t stop.

 Jemma tilted her head, slightly, and Fitz groaned when he felt her tongue on his bottom lip. As they both opened their mouths, Fitz moved his hands up her back, the tips of her hair tickling his skin.

She was the one to stop the kiss, but she didn’t pull away. Not really. She didn’t let go of him and she didn’t even open her eyes.

‘You’re coming home with me’, Jemma whispered, no question about it.

‘I am?’, Fitz breathed out.

Jemma kissed him again. It was harder this time. Faster and a lot more passionate. Fitz melted into it.

He doesn’t know how long they kissed. He couldn’t even properly remember where they were.

He startled when he felt something brushing against his calf. Fitz looked down and he saw Lincoln on all fours, his hands on the Fitznator.

Fitz paled. ‘Lincoln, no.’

‘You gotta pay’, was all Lincoln said, before he quickly got up and started running, taking the plane with him, cackling somewhat manically.

Jemma gave him a quick peck on the lips, bringing his attention back to her.

‘Go get him’, she said around a grin, and it was all Fitz needed, before he started running after Lincoln, screaming bloody murder.


	4. Let it Snow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Killervibe.

Caitlin didn’t really want to be here.

She loved her parents, she really did, but when Ronnie died, they didn’t know how to handle her. And after that, Caitlin changed so much, they stopped trying.

But it was Christmas, and for some reason, her parents decided to try again. So she went home.

Barry and his family were pretty sad that she will not be joining them on Christmas Eve, and Cisco seemed almost devastated. But ultimately, they got it. Especially Cisco, who knew the whole story about her and her parents.

So here she was. Miles and miles away from Central City, in a small town that was covered in snow and drowned in fairy lights, in her room that didn’t change much since her highschool days, trying her hardest to mend the broken relationship with her parents.

Christmas Eve was nice. There was good food, and they decorated the tree together, cheesy movies playing in the background and hot chocolate always in their mugs.

Caitlin went to bed early, the exhaustion of the last couple of weeks catching up to her. But not before she skyped Cisco, who was at the West’ house. They all missed her, apparently, and Cisco took it upon himself to drink her helping of eggnog.

She didn’t cry after she hung up the phone. She didn’t.

Ϟ

They went to church the next morning, because that’s what her parents did. Caitlin was a scientist, a church was the last place she wanted to be, but she was trying.

When they got home, she was almost asleep in the back seat of the car.

‘Who is that?’, her father asked.

‘He looks familiar.’, her mother said.

It spiked Caitlin’s attention enough to wake her up. When she looked towards the house, she gasped.

‘You know him?’, her parents asked in sync, and Caitlin nodded.

‘That’s Cisco.’

Because there he was, on the porch, leaning against the railing. In his black winter coat with a bright red Santa hat on, grinning wildly.

Caitlin wasn’t very proud of it, but she ran out of the car and up to him.

Cisco yelped when Caitlin all but threw herself in his arms, but he hugged her back just as tightly, chuckling in her ear.

‘What are you doing here?’, she asked, not letting go of him.

‘We didn’t get to give you your presents.’, Cisco scoffed.

Caitlin felt like crying, again. She loved Cisco so much, and it warmed her heart, that he drove across the country for her, because he knew the truth, he knew she wouldn’t be happy.

‘You’re staying, right?’, she suddenly asked, aware of how desperate she sounded.

Cisco pulled away at that, keeping a hand around her shoulders, but looking at her.

‘I wasn’t really planning to. I mean, I rented a room for the night, but because I’d be way too tired to drive back now. I really just wanted to give you your gifts.’

‘Nonsense’, Caitlin heard her mother say, and it startled her as much as it startled Cisco. He was the first to recover, letting go of Caitlin in order to extend a hand to her mother.

‘Mrs. Snow, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Cisco Ramon.’

‘Welcome, Cisco. Please call me Anne. You’re welcome to stay a couple of days. Isn’t he, Matt?’

Caitlin’s father came to their side, and respectfully shook Cisco’s hand.

‘Of course, any friend of Caitlin’s is always welcomed.’

She knew Cisco was going to refuse, so Caitlin put a hand on his arm.

‘You’re staying’, she said strongly. ‘We could use another set of hands in the kitchen tomorrow and … when’s the last time you saw snow?’

Cisco blinked at her. ‘I saw snow three days ago. Before you left.’

Caitlin rolled his eyes, but she knew she got to him. She couldn’t help but grin when Cisco finally accepted, and throw a grateful look to her parents.

Ϟ

As they were having lunch, Cisco and Matt were lost in a lengthy conversation about gadgets. Caitlin shouldn’t have been surprised, but she couldn’t help but stare. Until her mother nudged her shoulder.

She was amused, clearly, and Caitlin couldn’t help but chuckle. It made the men stop and they both winced, in sync.

‘Apologies, my dears’, Matt smiled at them.

‘Sorry’, Cisco nodded. ‘It’s not nice to ignore you.’

‘How was Christmas at the West’s?’, Caitlin asked, and she was surprised by the blush that spread over Cisco’s cheeks.

‘It was nice. As usual, way too much of Grandma Esther’s eggnog. And uh, a friend of Barry’s stopped by. Lenny?’

Caitlin paled, because the only Lenny they knew was Captain Cold.

‘Oh, it was fine’, Cisco was quick to say. ‘He really just stopped for a chat. He brought wine and a lemon tart.’

Caitlin stared.

‘Yeah’, Cisco nodded. ‘It was very weird.’

‘Okay’, Caitlin said, slowly. ‘Are you sure?’

‘Yup’, he shook his head. ‘The West's got me a bike.’

Caitlin raised an eyebrow.

‘An honest to god, vintage bike from the 30s. Reconditioned and everything.’

‘Motor bike or regular bike?’, Matt asked.

‘Regular bike. It’s pretty gorgeous. I’m kinda too fond of it to actually ride it.’

‘That’s nice’, Caitlin smiled.

‘As I said, I got your presents too.’, Cisco winked at her. ‘They’re under the Christmas tree whenever you want to open them.’

Caitlin looked to her mother, she couldn’t hide the childish excitement she was displaying.

It made Anne laugh. ‘Go’, she rolled her eyes. ‘I’ll clear the table.’

Caitlin grabbed a hold of Cisco’s hand and dragged him to the living room, where she sat down on the floor in front of the tree, excitedly gathering her presents. But Cisco sat down next to her, phone ready for picture taking, so it was okay.

Barry got her a spa day in the most expensive hotel in town, which she was incredibly grateful for. But he also got her the ugliest Christmas sweater she has ever seen. It was bright pink and it had Christmas trees, reindeers, scalpels and syringes on it. She laughed so hard her parents came to check on her. Caitlin didn’t hesitate, in taking off the sweater she was wearing and pulling this one on.

‘Sure, Christmas striptease, that’s fine’, Cisco grinned, while Caitlin rolled her eyes at him. She had a tank top underneath, it was fine.

Iris got her a perfume, and Joe got her a Flash-bear plushie.

‘We all got them’, Cisco said. ‘Even Barry.’

‘It’s so fluffy’, Caitlin cradled the bear to her chest.

Cisco grinned, took her picture and admitted that Barry cried a little over his.

There was one more present, from Felicity and Oliver.

‘They mailed them’, Cisco explained upon seeing her confusion.

Caitlin quickly opened the box, where she found a silver necklace with a silver arrowhead pendant.

‘This is incredibly possessive’, she blurted out, making Cisco laugh.

‘It’s a tracker’, he whispered to her. ‘Barry and I got key chains, Iris got a ring, Joe got a pair of buttons.’

‘Wow’, she breathed out. ‘I take it back, it’s incredibly thoughtful.’

‘It’s pretty great, yeah’, Cisco agreed.

Caitlin checked under the tree, but there weren’t any gifts left.

‘Nothing from you?’

Cisco grinned. ‘Not yet. My gifts works better if it’s dark out.’

She raised an eyebrow at that.

‘Later tonight?’, Cisco tilted his head.

Caitlin thought about it. ‘No, we need to go to bed early, cause it’s going to be a long day tomorrow.’

‘Right, you still haven’t told me what we’re doing.’

‘Cooking all day, because in the evening, we’re taking all the food to the local orphanage. The rest of the town always gets the clothes and toys, but us and the Morrison’s, down the street, we’re always in charge of the food.’

Cisco was looking at her very softly, a small smile on his face. ‘That sounds great. I’ll be happy to help.’

‘Me too’, Caitlin said quickly, then shook her head when she realized how stupid that sounded.

‘Do we have any plans for today?’, Cisco asked and she frowned, shaking her head.

‘Then how about you show me around town?’, he smiled. ‘I could go for a walk.’

‘That sounds lovely.’

Ϟ

They spent the afternoon walking around town, sightseeing, Cisco called it, even if there wasn’t a lot to see. The museums were closed, as were most of the shops, but they went in all the ones that were open. They spent an hour in a coffee shop, at one point, and when the sun started setting down, Caitlin urged them to the town square, which was very nicely decorated.

Cisco seemed to enjoy it, considering the amount of pictures he took. They drank a cup of mulled wine from the little Christmas market that was set up, and Cisco brought them the biggest gingerbread cookies Caitlin has ever seen.

For the first time that year, Caitlin felt the Christmas spirit. She didn’t think it was because of the lights or the taste of sweet wine on her tongue, she thought it had everything to do with Cisco’s grin and his Santa hat.

Ϟ

They were three feet away from the front door when Cisco stopped her from walking, by planting himself right in front of her, grinning somewhat evily.

‘What?’, Caitlin asked.

‘Snow’, Cisco said slowly. ‘Snow on snow.’

She didn’t get it. ‘What?’

And then, quicker than she thought he could, he bended down and shoved a handful of snow into her face.

Caitlin spluttered, taking a couple of steps back, and when she got her bearings back, she glared. Cisco was still grinning evily at her, so Caitlin didn’t hesitate, in quickly picking up snow and throwing it at him.

Ten minutes later, it wasn’t as they could declare a winner, like in most snow fights. They both kind of gave up at the same time, and they were now on the ground, covered in show, Caitlin half on top of Cisco, her back to his chest. They were both breathing heavily and the stars were quite beautiful over their heads.

She was glad he couldn’t see her, because it gave her the strength to say the words out loud.

‘You don’t know how happy I am that you’re here.’

He was silent for a couple of beats, but then he moved around, until he could wrap a hand around Catilin’s waist. It should have felt weird, but it didn’t.

‘Barry said I was pretty pathetic’, Cisco told her, in a whispered voice. ‘On Christmas Eve. Because you weren’t there.’

Caitlin placed her gloved hand over his, on her stomach. It was a comforting gesture, easy for her, even if their skins weren’t touching.

‘Turns out’, Cisco breathed out, ‘I can’t imaging Christmas without you. So here I am.’

‘Thank you’, was all she managed to say out loud. Her heart was beating a mile of minute and she felt like crying, of happiness. She felt happy.

‘Children!’, his dad yelled out the window. ‘If you’re done frolicking, dinner’s ready.’

He shut the window with a loud snap, but Caitlin didn’t really move.

‘Did he really just say _frolicking_?’, Cisco said, and that was what made Caitlin start laughing.

Ϟ

When Caitlin woke up the next morning, Cisco was already in the kitchen, bleary eyed and clutching to his coffee cup.

‘Are we ready for this?’, her mother asked and Caitlin nodded, while Cisco shook his head.

‘Very well’, Anne grinned, and pulled out a whiteboard, that was already filled with a timetable and instructions, in order to get all the food done in time. Caitlin was used to it.

Cisco, however, eyed it wearily, before knocking his knee against Caitlin’s.

‘Now I know where you got it from.’

She didn’t have it in her to be offended.

Ϟ

They all spent the day in the kitchen, and it was surprisingly good.

Beyond the chaos of having to cook tons of food, they all talked, in pairs or all together. And they joked, and more often than not, Caitlin and Cisco found themselves telling stories about their lives in Central City (changing details when they needed to), and Caitlin’s parents ate it all up.

Not just once, her mother had to yell at them to behave, because Caitlin and Cisco got awfully close to a food fight. Not just once, Cisco would just stop whatever it was he was doing and bump their hips, or brush the hair out of her face, or throw some flower in her face, or kiss her cheek.

It was nice.

And him being there, it made it easier for Caitlin to be with her parents.

For the first time, she didn’t feel the Ronnie-shaped sword over their heads, and it was easy, for Caitlin to tease her father about his sweet tooth, or to gossip with her mother about her old highschool friends.

When it was time to pack all the food and drive to the orphanage, Caitlin felt incredibly glad.

Ϟ

Cisco was amazing with kids. It didn’t really surprise Caitlin, but she couldn’t look away.

He was a whirlwind of movement, playing with all the kids, getting excited about the toys they got. He yelled dramatically when one of the boys shot him with a plastic gun or whatnot, and he addressed all the girls with ‘princess’, and tried to save them from the dragon. Caitlin didn’t really figure out who the dragon was, but she didn’t think it mattered that much.

The kids loved Cisco, and really, so did Caitlin.

‘He’s something else’, her mother came to her side, whispering to her around a smile.

‘Yeah, he is’, Caitlin agreed, doing her best not to blush.

‘He makes you happy, dear’, Anne went on.

‘I’m trying, mother. I really am.’

‘I know’, the older woman wrapped a hand around Caitlin’s shoulders. ‘And I am very grateful for it. I understand things are… hard between us, but it’s been easier, with him here.’

Caitlin nodded, surprised that her mother realized it.

‘I wouldn’t mind having him over every time you visit, if it means I get to see you this happy.’

‘Thank you’, was all Caitlin could say.

At that moment, her eyes met Cisco’s. He waved at her, grinning wildly, then he turned back to the girl he was currently playing with, saying something in her ear.

The little girl nodded seriously and marched over to Caitlin, grabbing a hold of her hand.

‘Are you Snow White?’

Caitlin blinked. ‘Well-‘

‘Because Prince Cisco says he needs your help to save us from the dragon.’

Anna laughed loudly at that, and really, Caitlin was fighting hard not to.

‘Well if Prince Cisco says so’, Caitlin told the little girl, ‘than it must be true.’

The child grinned and started pulling Caitlin towards Cisco, and she went along with it, and she went along with anything Cisco said for the rest of the evening. After all, he was the Prince.

Ϟ

‘Come to my room later, yeah?’, Cisco said when they were getting ready to go to bed. ‘I still have to give you your present.’

Caitlin grinned.

She didn’t hurry with her nighttime ritual, but the more she lingered, the more anxious she got. Caitlin didn’t know why.

Except that she did.

It was a long time coming, really. But Cisco coming here for her, and staying, for her, it just settled Caitlin’s feelings.

She knew she cared about Cisco a great deal. And it wasn’t that surprising to realize she was in love with him.

But she pushed through it. She put on her pajamas and braided her hair, she picked up the gift she got for Cisco and tiptoed her way to the guest room.

He was also wearing his pajamas, sitting on his bed with his tablet, the lamp on the nightstand. He grinned when he saw her and wordlessly urged her to sit down next to him.

She did, crossing her feet under the covers, taking comfort in the way Cisco kept grinning at her.

He reach on the nightstand, and in a flourish of dramatic movements, presented Caitlin with a small dark blue jewelry box, with a bright red bow on it.

She took it, ignoring the way her heart fluttered when their fingers touched.

All her breath left her when she opened the box.

There was a pendant inside, bigger than what she would usually wear, but it was a statement piece. She knew Cisco made it himself, without any doubt. It was made out of spare parts, by the looks of it, chrome and bronze pieces creating a puzzle.

It had a steampunk vibe to it, and it was somewhat chaotic. But between all the screws and nails, she saw the Flash’s sign, and an arrowhead, and the Star Labs logo, and-

Cisco turned off the light on his night stand, and as the darkness fell, Caitlin gasped. Because there were parts of the pendant that glowed.

It wasn’t the usual fluorescent glow she was used to seeing, and the thought that Cisco developed some new material went through her head, but she didn’t dwell on it.

‘I know it’s not something you’d wear’, Cisco whispered in the dark room, ‘but I-‘

‘I love it’, Caitlin interrupted him. ‘It’s beautiful, Cisco.’

He didn’t say anything, and Caitlin couldn’t see his face. She hated it.

‘Turn on the light’, she whispered and Cisco hesitated for a second, but he did listen to her.

Caitlin carefully put the pendant back in its box and reached behind her, smiling as she extended a similar box to Cisco. It was bigger, but flatter and he was very surprised by it.

But he grinned widely, even if it fell off his face after he opened the box. The happy, carefree expression was replaced with one of shock and slight confusion. Caitlin understood it.

Because her gift was a simple circle, made out of the material that Barry’s suit was made of. It looked like Barry’s chest emblem, but different. The background was black, the edges were red and where Barry’s lightning bolt usually sat, this one had a simple V.

Cisco still looked confused, but he took his eyes away from it and looked up at Caitlin.

‘It’s just part of the gift’, she said. ‘The rest of the suit is back at Star Labs.’

‘Suit?’, Cisco breathed out, and Caitlin nodded.

‘You keep insisting on going out with Barry and saving the city, so you need to protect yourself just as well as you protect him.’

Cisco gulped and looked down at the logo, running his fingers over the V.

‘Vibe is a pretty cool superhero name.’, she said around a smile.

Cisco took a very shaky breath, before putting the lid back on the box and putting it safely on his nightstand.

When he turned around to look at her, Caitlin was shocked about how emotional he looked. His bottom lip was trembling.

‘Thank you’, he rasped out. ‘So much.’

He grabbed hold of her hand, with more force than was necessary, and quickly brought it up to his lips, kissing it a couple of times.

Caitlin melted at the touch, and without even realizing it, she leaned forward.

Cisco startled at that, and looked up at her. He looked a bit frantic, his eyes darting quickly from her eyes, to her lips and back up. Then Cisco gasped, and in a rush, he let go of her hand in order to cup her cheeks and kiss her.

It startled her, but it didn’t take more than a second, for Caitlin to clutch at Cisco’s shirt, to bring her other hand around one of his wrists and to kiss him back.

That startled him, apparently, because he pulled back as soon as Caitlin’s lips moved against his. She didn’t let go of him, though. She didn’t. She couldn’t.

He didn’t open his eyes.

‘I shouldn’t have done that.’, he whispered, still trying to pull away.

Caitlin tightened her hold on him.

‘You really should have. And I’m going to do it again.’

Cisco still hesitated, when Caitlin pushed her lips to his. But not for long. He kissed her back, and she breathed out a sigh of relief.

She let go of his shirt in order to bring her hand up to his hair, and his hands were still holding onto her face. He took one away, and lowered it onto her waist, his fingers digging into her skin before moving up her back.

Cisco didn’t deepen the kiss, and she didn’t push for it either, just because it felt right. Everything felt right with him. But she knew it was a slippery slope, and because of their lives, they’d have to be careful and, ironically enough, not rush into it.

So she hugged him tightly, smiling when she felt Cisco’s body relax against hers.

‘I’m really tired’, she whispered, and he nodded.

Caitlin didn’t ask for permission, she just got under the covers and looked up, expectantly at Cisco. He huffed and rolled his eyes, but he did turn off the light and gathered her in his arms.

Ϟ

There was mistletoe in the living room the next morning, where there wasn’t any before. Both of her parents were grinning somewhat mischievously at them.

Cisco was blushing, furiously, but in true Cisco fashion, he took it in stride. He straightened his back, lifted his chin and grinned at her.

‘Come on, Snow. Lay one on me.’

He probably wasn’t expecting her to do it in front of her parents. They didn’t even talk yet, not really, about what will happen next between them.

But that didn’t stop Caitlin from pushing Cisco to the closest wall and kissing him thoroughly. Not for long, but long enough to daze him.

When she turned around, her father looked like he ate something sour and her mother raised an eyebrow.

‘Was that really necessary?’

‘I’d say yeah’, Cisco kind of whimpered from behind her, and Caitlin started laughing. He soon followed, and grabbed her hand, dragging her to the kitchen where coffee was waiting.


	5. Kiss of gold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hayffie.

‘Effie invited us over for Christmas’, Peeta said, and Haymitch almost dropped the cup of coffee he was holding.

It’s been three years since the war ended. Neither of them has seen Effie since. They talked every week, but they haven’t seen each other.

‘Can I do that?’, Katniss asked, and Haymitch was shocked once again, that she was considering it.

‘Effie asked Paylor’, Peeta nodded.

‘Would be nice’, Katniss said in a low voice. ‘A change of scenery.’

‘I’m curious, to be honest’, Peeta shrugged. ‘Effie keeps telling us about how much the Capitol has changed, but I want to see it.’

In sync, both the kids turned to Haymitch.

‘Am I even invited?’

Still in sync, they both rolled their eyes.

‘She said I should punch you if you even think of refusing’, Peeta said around a smirk.

And that was that.

They were going to the Capitol. For Christmas.

→

True to Effie‘s words, the Capitol has changed. A lot of people moved from the districts after the war, so the city felt... new. Everything was more diverse, from the fashion sense to the shops, from the people to the style the buildings were built in.

Haymitch felt weird. The kids probably were feeling the same, but they were still looking curiously out of the window of the cab.

Effie didn’t live in the apartment building she stayed in before the war, but Haymitch didn’t think he’d need to point that out. Instead, she lived at the very outer edge of the city, on a street filled with houses.

Her house was pale pink, of course it was, with a red fence and a swing on the porch. It was a two stories house, which seemed ridiculous to Haymitch, considering she lived alone, but again, he didn’t point that out.

When she opend the door, Haymitch was pretty shocked into silence.

Her hair was longer, falling loosely on her shoulders. There was no makeup on her face, just a line of gold eyeliner on her lid and some black on her lashes. She was wearing black jeans and a loose red sweater and she was still just as beautiful as she has ever been.

After hugging the kids, Haymitch got a hug from her as well, and a quick kiss on the cheek. He didn’t mind. He didn’t find his voice yet, either.

→

The house was huge. The living room was huge, and the kitchen was bigger than the one they had in the Victor’s village. All the other rooms were on the second floor: her bedroom, two guest rooms that they’ll be using, and an office.

Haymitch was impressed with the way Effie decorated her house. It wasn’t … modern. There were still things that were very Capitol, like a bright pink rug under her bed, and the gold accents in the kitchen, but all the furniture was made out of dark wood, and one of the living room walls held a giant bookcase, filled with books, new and old, but also records, and picture frames and Haymitch spotted a shell that without doubt came from 4, and a whole bunch of other knick knacks.

He kind of loved it. He kinda loved her. Still.

→

Haymitch let the kids do most of the talking during dinner, updating Effie on their lives. But he listened, when Effie talked about hers: about her new job and the Capitol.

She seemed… fine. Calm, contempt. Happy even. He liked it.

→

They decorated the tree after dinner.

Well, the kids did. Haymitch lounged on a couch and watched them do it, watched them laughing and teasing, commenting on every piece of decoration they pulled out of the boxes, watched Effie give them instructions and flutter around them.

She gave up, at one point, and even though there were a lot of free seats in the room, she came to Haymitch’s couch, pushing at his shoulder until he made room for her.

But he’s still an asshole, so as soon as Effie got comfortable, Haymitch put his head on her lap. She huffed, seemingly annoyed, but she also started running her fingers through his hair.

‘How are your geese?’

‘Loud’, Haymitch said. ‘Obnoxious.’

‘Is that why you got them?’, Effie chuckled. ‘Cause they reminded you of me?’

There was a pause.

‘Wow’, Haymitch said. ‘I didn’t even think of that one.’

Effie laughed. ‘You’re getting old’.

‘You’re not getting any younger.’

She just hummed.

‘How are they?’, Effie whispered, and Haymitch knew she meant the kids.

‘Better.’, is what he decided on saying. He could have said a lot more, but Effie took it for what it was, a dismissal.

They spent a couple of moments in silence, just watching Katniss and Peeta putting up the tree. But Haymitch couldn’t get his brain to mellow down, so he had to ask.

‘Why are we here?’

Effie’s fingers stopped their movement in his hair. ‘Because I missed you.’

Haymitch took it as it was. The truth.

He fell asleep to the sound of Peeta and Katniss bickering over tinsel, and to Effie’s fingers running through his hair.

→

They went shopping the next day. Effie took them to a mall, a massive building filled with shops. It didn’t take long for the kids to wonder off, and Haymitch couldn’t stand walking into another clothing store with Effie, so he very politely told her to leave him alone, because he had Christmas presents to buy.

Katniss was easy: he got her the thickest sweater he could find in a dark color. She’d use it a lot, especially out in the woods.

Peeta was slightly more problematic, but Haymitch found him some funny shaped cooking trays. Why would anyone want to eat a cake shaped as a house, he had no idea, but Peeta will probably enjoy them.

He didn’t mean to, but something caught his eye in one of the display windows. It was a beautiful hair brush, with silver accents and a dark green handle. Katniss wouldn’t enjoy it, probably. But she will appreciate it, because it was the color of the woods, and because her hair was finally long enough to braid. So he got her the brush as well.

Haymitch went back to the cooking store and also got Peeta a set of exotic condiments. Now the kids’ gifts were equal in value.

That only left Effie.

Of course, Haymitch had no idea what he could get for the woman he loved, the woman who has been in his life for over a decade, the woman he hasn’t seen in three years, the woman whom he had such a complicated relationship with.

So he went to the jewelry store.

Haymitch spent an embarrassing amount of time in the jewelry store. He refused the clerk’s help three times before admitting defeat.

When the lady behind the counter asked him what type of a woman he was shopping for, Haymitch faltered. It was impossible for him to explain Effie in just a couple of words.

‘Mr. Abernathy’, the lady smirked at him, ‘Mrs. Trinket is a regular.’

He didn’t even have the strength to feel ashamed about it, he just begged the lady to show him some options.

Ten minutes later, he still couldn’t decide, but the clerk brought out one last thing. Haymitch paused, visibly.

‘I think she’ll like this one as well’, the lady said, and Haymitch agreed.

Effie will love it.

It was a simple gold necklace, short, so that it would sit at the base of her neck. And on it, there were three stars. They weren’t overly large, but each had a small diamond incrusted in them.

‘It’s quite pricey, though’, the lady said, and Haymitch glared at her.

‘I have 25 years worth of victor’s pay.’

‘Oh, you didn’t drink it all?’, the woman blinked innocently, and Haymitch rolled his eyes, wordlessly handing her his card.

→

Haymitch napped when they got back to Effie’s house, and when he woke up, the entire house smelled of cookies. And sure enough, the girls were helping Peeta bake. Meaning Peeta baked, and the girls talked.

But there was a cup of coffee waiting for him, and a cold, but still delicious grilled cheese sandwitch, so he didn’t mind sitting with them in the kitchen.

A decision he regretted, as soon as Peeta asked Effie is she was dating someone.

‘Oh, no’, Effie laughed. ‘I’m much better off alone, thank you very much.’

Haymitch had to look up at that, because never in her life has Effie said anything even remotely close to that.

She shrugged at him. ‘I tried dating for a while after the war, but those men expected me to be… the escort they saw on tv. And that’s not possible.’

‘You should find someone who doesn’t expect that.’, Katniss said, and Haymitch will remember it for later, the fact that she was the one to give dating advice.

‘I did’, Effie nodded. ‘A nice man from District 7, who fought in the war and understood that I’ve changed. But he didn’t like that I still lived in the Capitol. So I quit trying.’

‘Don’t give up’, Katniss said, not really feeling it, but Peeta was there to save her.

‘You’ll find someone who deserves you, Effie’.

‘Maybe someone who’s not stupid’, Haymitch muttered under his breath. The kids glared at him, but Effie smiled, somewhat gratefully.

→

Peeta and Effie were the most excited for the gift exchange. At least visibly. Haymitch knew Katniss was excited as well, but she controlled her reactions.

Haymitch was happy enough to sit back and watch it all unfurl.

Peeta got pastels from Katniss and watercolors from Effie, and he was very excited about them both. He laughed at Haymitch’s gift, agreeing with him that nobody would actually eat a house shaped cake, but the kid also promised he’ll make one.

Katniss got a dagger from Peeta. Haymitch wondered how the hell he found a dagger in the mall, but realized pretty quickly that he probably got it back in 12.

Effie got Katniss a dark purple dress, which she eyed wearily, but Peeta reminded her that they had to go to Johanna’s wedding next year, and suddenly, Katniss was very grateful.

She started laughing when she saw the jumper Haymitch got her, but he didn’t understand why, and Katniss threw a bag at his face. Apparently, she got him the same jumper. It was a nice jumper. They both liked it.

Peeta got him a new chess game, which was nice, considering Haymitch only played with him these day, and Effie, as always, got him antique books from before the first Rebellion. He never knew how she got them, but Haymitch has always enjoyed them.

From the kids, Effie got a nice gold ring, with a pearl set in it. Funny, how they also went the gold road. She seemed to like the necklace Haymitch got her. He expected something more than a simple ‘Oh, thank you, Haymitch, its beautiful’, but he never got his hopes up.

→

Somehow, they ended up alone in the kitchen later in the evening. Haymitch lingered, and so did she.

‘I really like the necklace’, she said, stepping closer to him. ‘It must have been expensive.’

Haymitch rolled his eyes. ‘It doesn’t matter.’ In a lower voice, he added ‘you deserve it.’

It made her smile. ‘Why the stars, though?’

‘Cause you always shine.’

Only after he said it, did Haymitch realize how bad it sounded. It sounded heartfelt and lovely. Ugh.

Effie didn’t say anything. Instead, she grabbed a hold of his hand and dragged him into the living room, right next to the fireplace. She completely ignored his whines and the kids’ questions, as she planted herself in front of him and gruffly told him to look up.

‘Mistletoe?’, he asked after recognizing the plant that was hanging from the fire place.

‘There’s a Christmas tradition in the Capitol. Don’t you have it in Twelve?’

Haymitch looked down to Effie. She didn’t seem so sure anymore.

‘What tradition?’, Peeta asked before Haymitch could.

‘People hang mistletoe in their houses for good luck.’, Effie spoke slowly, not once looking away from Haymitch. He extended the courtesy.

‘And if two people get caught under it, they have to kiss, in order to ward off bad luck.’

‘Not again’, Katniss groaned.

‘Again?’, Peeta asked, and there was a long pause, and the next thing Haymitch heard was the pretty distinctive sound of Katniss dragging Peeta away from the living room.

When Effie kissed him, Haymitch was expecting it. So he lowered his head to meet her half way, and he tilted his head to accommodate her, and it was over way too quickly for his liking.

‘Merry Christmas, Haymitch’, she whispered with a smile on her face, before she turned around to leave.

He didn’t let her. He grabbed her wrist and spun her around, delighted to hear the small gasp she made. Haymitch wrapped her hands around Effie’s waist, bringing her closer still.

It didn’t take long, for Effie to respond to the kiss, and Haymitch didn’t take long to deepen it. Her hands ended up in his hair, and Effie sighed, when Haymitch finally pulled back, in need of air.

But she didn’t let go of him. She hugged him tightly, and pushed her face into the crook of his neck. Haymitch wrapped his arms around her, pressing his cheek to her hair.

‘You could visit’, Effie said in a whisper. ‘And maybe I could visit. And we should talk more often. Or we could write. Or both.’

Haymitch took a deep breath. ‘Is that what you want?’

‘Of course’, Effie didn’t hesitate. ‘I want you. I’ve always wanted you.’

He kissed her again, how could he not. Haymitch kissed her, and tried to pour everything into it. Everything he could feel, everything he could never say out loud, not before, and not now.

At some point, he heard Katniss groaning and saying ‘They’re still not done’, but he couldn’t care less. Not with Effie in his arms.


	6. Kiss of the stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joanlock.

Sherlock came into the brownstone already talking. It was to be expected, considering he was coming from the station with his hands filled with cold cases files.

He stopped talking as he stepped into the living room, and he stopped walking as well.

‘It’s Christmas’, were the first thing out of his mouth.

‘Next week, actually’, Joan said, not faltering in the task at hand, decorating the Christmas tree.

Sherlock didn’t say anything, so Joan turned to look at him over her shoulder. He was blinking rapidly, like he usually did when Joan did anything caring for him.

‘Do you mind if I leave the tree here?’, Joan asked, cautiously. ‘It’s pretty out of your way, but if it bothers you, I don’t mind putting it into my room.’

‘It’s fine’, Sherlock said quickly. ‘My apologies, Watson, it’s just that it’s been a while since my home had a Christmas tree.’

Joan knew that. She’s been living with Sherlock for the past four Christmases, and even though he always left her something on her nightstand on Christmas morning, he never seemed to care for it.

‘Good’, she said, smiling at Sherlock.

‘Any reason for the sudden change?’, he asked, quickly making his way towards her and helping her down from the chair she was perched on.

‘I actually had time this year, to go out and buy a tree and decorations’, she shrugged. ‘And I quite enjoy this part of the holiday.’

‘Very well, Watson’, Sherlock nodded twice, before turning around and heading towards the kitchen.

≡

It was interesting to watch, Sherlock vs. the Christmas Tree.

He kept … looking at it. When he’d remember about its existence, he’d stop whatever he was doing and just look at it for a couple of seconds, his eyes roaming all over.

Joan didn’t understand it, and Sherlock didn’t offer any more information on it.

She didn’t know if he hated the holiday. He probably found it useless, she could assume as much, but he never told her his opinion about it. Which was odd, because Sherlock was always the one to rant.

Joan assumed he’d come to her with any complains. He didn’t, so she focused on picking up a present for him and on the cold cases they worked on.

≡

On the 25th of December, Joan woke up to Clyde slowly making his way up her stomach. He was wearing a tiny Santa hat and it was the most adorable thing she had seen since the shark jumper.

As much as she wanted to rush downstairs, Joan didn’t. Instead, she put on a pair of leggings and a quite horrible Christmas sweater. She took the time to brush her hair and pin it up and apply a little bit of makeup.

Sherlock was waiting for her in the living room, and he stood up from the couch when she entered the room.

‘Good morning, Watson.’, he nodded twice. ‘That is a horrendous attire.’

She had to smile at that. ‘I know. Clyde, however, looks absolutely dashing.’

Sherlock smirked at that, seemingly proud of himself, and extended a hand. Joan put the tortoise in it, and they both spent a couple of seconds just looking at the small animal.

He cleared his throat, making Joan look up at him, only now realizing how close they were.

‘Since you participated in this holiday’s traditions, with decorating the tree, baking the snowman shaped sugar cookies yesterday, wearing this horrible excuse for fashion, I assume now would be a good time for us to exchange gifts, would it not?’

Joan smirked, taking Clyde away from his hold and making her way to the couch.

‘Did you figure out which one is yours?’, she asked playfully, and Sherlock nodded.

‘The blue one in the back.’

Joan sighed. ‘I’m curious about the explanation, but I’m more curious about what you think about what’s inside.’

The thing is, Christmas shopping for Sherlock Holmes was one of the hardest things Joan did, and that was saying something. Her instinct told her that he would most appreciate something useful, but her deductive skills failed her in figuring out something that he needed.

She even snooped his room. He figured it out, of course, but Joan lied through her teeth about why she did it. Sherlock seemed to believe her, and the small breach of privacy helped Joan.

Sherlock wasn’t a man to splurge on things. Everything he paid for was something that he needed, for one reason or another. And as far as clothes went, even though they were expensive, there weren’t many of them.

But Sherlock had three wrist watches. So that’s what Joan got him.

A watch from the 1930s, fully reconditioned and quite beautiful, if you asked her. Initially, she wanted to engrave it, but that would have been a crime against the history of the object. So she didn’t. Instead, she placed a small card inside the box.

Joan debated a long while about what to write on it, but in the end she went with the truth. _Love, your Watson_.

Sherlock stared at it for a long while. Again, blinking rapidly, seemingly confused.

‘It’s exquisite’, he finally said, still looking at the watch, instead of at her. ‘This model is fairly rare, and I must say, the person who reconditioned it was a professional.’

‘So you like it’, Joan said, slowly.

That made Sherlock look up at her. ‘Quite’, he said softly. ‘Thank you.’

He didn’t put the watch on his wrist, but that was fine with Joan. It was more a collectible than a wearable. She did appreciate, however, the gentleness with which Sherlock seemed to be handling the box.

After he placed it on the table, he went to the tree and got a big package out fro under it. The box was flat and it was wrapped in striped black and red paper, and Joan knew she’d find a dress inside, that will probably fit her perfectly.

She didn’t expect it to be a runaway dress. Joan only recognized it because she remembered the internet buzzing with this collection a couple of months ago.

The line of it was simple: sleeveless, a deep V-neck, and a Cinderella type of dress. The material, however, and the crystals embedded in it, made the dress look like a galaxy.

[[LOOK AT THIS DRESS]](http://sssssssim.tumblr.com/post/132819380556/tyrannyoftheurgent-couture-constellation)

It must have cost a fortune. A lot more than Joan paid for all of Sherlock’s gifts in the years they’ve known each other.

‘I’m not positive by reading your body language’, Sherlock said, ‘but I think you like it.’

‘Sherlock’, Joan breathed out, gently putting the dress back in its box. ‘I love it.’

He breathed in. ‘Good. Then you could wear it tonight, to the Police Ball.’

That made Joan frown.

‘Captain Gregson brought us the tickets last night, after you went to bed.’

‘You want to go to a party?’, Joan couldn’t help but clarify.

Sherlock’s eyes twitched, and he was rubbing his fingers together, a nervous habit.

‘Tis the season.’, he said, pointedly, his tone softening after. ‘Would you do me the pleasure of accompanying me?’

Well, when he put it like that, there was no way Joan could refuse.

≡

Sherlock looked amazing in his tux, but he didn’t look as good as Joan did. The dress fit her like a glove, and she let her hair down, for once, and made sure her makeup was perfect.

‘You look breathtaking’, Sherlock told her, slowly, and it made her blush. He didn’t mention it, instead extending his hand and guiding her to the car.

≡

The party was nice, and Joan enjoyed herself. Everybody was staring at her, further proof that the dress was amazing, but Sherlock was a constant by her side.

Except for the time when she danced with Marcus. But Sherlock asked for a dance as well after that, and it was a first in their relationship. Joan expected him to be a stiff plank against her, but he wasn’t.

Sherlock was a very good dancer, fluid in movements and an expert in guiding her along, even with the big dress she was wearing. Marcus had a problem with it, Sherlock had none.

He kissed the back of her hand at the end of the dance, and Joan was shocked to see how comfortable he seemed to be with her. There was still a certain level of awkwardness to their touches, even after so many years of working together. Joan understood it, she understood him, his reluctance.

But there was none as they dance. And there was none for the rest of the evening.

≡

Sherlock stopped just as they crossed the line to the living room, stopping her as well with a gentle hand on her back.

‘What is it?’, Joan panicked, but when she saw that he was looking up, so did she.

‘I didn’t put that there’, she was quick to say, looking at Sherlock with wide eyes. ‘And it wasn’t there yesterday.’

‘Of course’, Sherlock nodded, calmly looking down at her. ‘Had you wanted to steal a kiss form me, you would have hung up mistletoe when you put up the tree. No, I suspect this is Mrs. Hudson’s doing.’

Joan had to agree. ‘Well, she’s not here, so we can just forget about it.’

She made to move out of the doorway, but once again, Sherlock stopped her, this time with his fingers wrapped around her arm.

‘Nonsense, Watson.’, he said in a lowered voice. ‘I do not wish to put copious amount of bad luck on us.’

He bent down, slowly, not kissing her, but stopping just a breath away. Sherlock watched her for a few beats more, before tightening his hold on her arm and closing his eyes.

Joan took a deep breath, before making the small step needed to push her lips to his. He didn’t flinch. He didn’t seem tense, he didn’t make a sound, he didn’t hold his breath.

Sherlock tilted his head to accommodate her, clearly giving her full control, which was something Joan never could have dreamed of. Still, it wasn’t a long kiss. She didn’t let it grow deep, she kept it very… sweet.

Which wasn’t an adjective she’d ever thought she’d use in relation to Sherlock. But she didn’t think she’d ever get to kiss him either, and yet, here they were.

He smiled down at her when he straightened his back. ‘Merry Christmas, my dear Watson.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well I hope you guys had fun! I sure did :D


End file.
